Welcome to the Drake Institute for the Mentally Ill. You won't be checking out if the spirits that reside here have any say.

After a fight leads Kelly, an amateur ghost-hunter, to investigate the abandoned building on her own, Delaware has a horrifying vision that she's in great danger. Upon entering the building he knows it's a trap but he has no choice. He must find Kelly before it's too late.

Join Delaware St. John and Kelly Bradford as they explore the rotting remains of an old mental asylum with a past laced with tales of abuse, conspiracy and torture.

Re: Delaware St. John: "Asylum of The Lost" Adventure Game - 11/12/1205:09 PM

Re: Delaware St. John: "Asylum of The Lost" Adventure Game - 11/14/1203:23 PM

Thank you to everyone who's shown Asylum of The Lost support.

However, we've made the tough decision to cancel the campaign. We've tried to reach our target audience but since we've stalled pretty much at the same goal as our previous attempt earlier this year, it's clear we either lack the ability to do so or our target audience just doesn't want this project.

Rather than drag it out for the next 6 weeks, we think it's best to just terminate it. We will not run the campaign again.

We are dedicated developers who want to make games people love, not force on them.

Again, thank you to everyone who showed us support, it really is appreciated.

Re: Delaware St. John: "Asylum of The Lost" Adventure Game - 11/14/1205:50 PM

Re: Delaware St. John: "Asylum of The Lost" Adventure Game - 11/14/1208:47 PM

@Ana and Becky, I'm not sure. I was planning on it next fall but if I can't get even 10% success with a "current" game like Delaware, I'm not sure IE will fare any better. It takes a LOT of time and resources to create assets just to get to the point of being able to try and convince people to support your efforts.

@Jarkeld, I won't say "never" but for now, the audience has spoken; they just don't want it.

Re: Delaware St. John: "Asylum of The Lost" Adventure Game - 11/15/1203:31 PM

Sorry to hear the news. Better luck with the next one, Bryan.

I'm not sure how many of those Kickstarter campaigns actually work out--i.e., result in a game coming to fruition. I'd really be interested in knowing. I think it's an interesting idea, but like so many things in today's economy, I imagine adventure game developers, particularly independent developers, are really feeling the squeeze like the rest of us. Money is just not there nowadays for luxuries like supporting video game habits, or if it is, it rests with an ever decreasing population.

I know there's a massive amount of hard work and long hours that goes into such a project, and I firmly believe that game designers and their teams should be well compensated for their efforts. Personally, I am of the opinion that a good, quality game should be priced accordingly, and in hindsight, I definitely wouldn't have minded paying substantially more for many of the games I purchased in the past--at the time I paid for them. Of course, that doesn't solve Bryan's problem--getting the funding up front to get the game made, which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish...

I hate to think about it, but we might be seeing a slow death in independent game development if the economy doesn't start booming again.

Re: Delaware St. John: "Asylum of The Lost" Adventure Game - 11/15/1204:24 PM

@Argyle, That's a very interesting take on the situation and I agree with most of it. My personal view however, is this: people want what they want. The ultimate "vote" a person can cast is when they put their money down on something.

However, sometimes people get too much of what they want. For example, a "small" developer posts that they need $100,000 to make a great game. But because they're making a game in a dry, underserved market, people rush to it and pledge and pledge until the $100,000 goal becomes a $1,000,000 success. Now you've got a ton of people who funded a project 10x over and do not have the resources for other projects.

With many adventure games already well funded on KS (And with much bigger names attached) the reality is people have put all their money into the "well known" and have "enough" games coming.

At the end of the day it's business. You can either compete or you cannot. After two poor campaign showings it is clear, in this genre, I cannot. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Re: Delaware St John Asylum Of The Lost Cancalled? - 11/19/1211:38 AM

Re: Delaware St John Asylum Of The Lost Cancalled? - 11/19/1201:16 PM

The interest may be there, but not by frequenters of Kickstarter, perhaps. I would be much interested in a new Delaware game, but I don't use Kickstarter. I do agree that it's difficult to accurately gauge initial interest.

I agree with Rushes. I wouldn't use the Kickstarters as a complete indication of interest for upcoming Delaware projects. One area I would look at would be the past history of the Delaware series- obviously there was enough interest after the initial Delaware for Bryan and co to continue making them. Although not to the extent Bryan would like perhaps, he has found a niche in the adventure gaming world with the series. And I, for one, hope it continues.